Merih Demiral

Mercedes G-Wagon


In the line of duty: After a hellacious match in Serie A the Atalanta defender cannot wait to get in to the shower and hop straight into the comforts of his air conditioned Mercedes and head home. We'll bet you anything Heidi had a lot of cleaning up to do that evening!

Born in Karamürsel, Turkey, much of his youth career was spent in his native land; split between local side Karamürsel Idmanyurduspor and Turkish giants Fenerbahçe, the major part of his development took place with the later. The Turk started out his professional career in Portugal for AC Alcanenense before moving to Sporting CP B. After a short spell in the Portuguese second division, he returned to his homeland to sign for Turkish club Alanyaspor on 15 August 2018, and made 16 appearances in the Turkish Süper Lig. Soon Dimi was on the move again with Italy firmly set on his sights. On 30 January 2019, he joined Serie A club Sassuolo; the centre-back made an instant impact, making 14 appearances in the league, he won 66.7% of his tackles, while having pass accuracy over 87%. His contributions helped Sassuolo secure an 11th position finish in the league. Serie A giants Juventus were impressed by the youngster’s performances and on 5 July 2019, the Turkish defender signed a five-year deal with La Vecchia Signora. On 21 September, Dimi made his debut for Juve in a 2-1 win over Verona. Despite winning a domestic double limited opportunities at Juve saw the Turk opt for a loan move to Atalanta in the 2021/22 season. He impressed the hierarchy during his spell and the move became permanent in 2022 after Juventus decided to cash in for the defender. On the international stage, he has represented Turkey at every level starting from U17s to U21s; he made his vow for the senior side in November 2018 in a goalless draw against Ukraine.